Oecophylla smaragdina minor workers tend to larvae in the brood nest. These small workers are present in great numbers in weaver ant colonies but are rarely seen outside the nest.

Cairns, Queensland, Australia
Tetramorium validiusculum - worker with larvae in a hollow mangrove twig nest.

Cape Tribulation, Queensland, Australia
Polyrhachis (Cyrtomyrma) robsoni worker with brood of different ages.

Cape Tribulation, Queensland, Australia
Leptomyrmex erythrocephalus spider ants scurry to carry brood to safety after the photographer uncovers their nest.

Harrietville, Victoria, Australia
Worker Vollenhovia emeryi with larvae and pupae in the brood nest.

Washington, DC, USA
A bristly rose slug (Cladius difformis) chews through a leaf. This insect is the larva of a sawfly in the diverse family Tenthredinidae.

Urbana, Illinois, USA
Larvae of syrphid flies in the genus Microdon are so odd that they were originally described as molluscs.  The adults are more or less normal-looking flies, but larvae are predators of ant brood, living within the dark galleries of ant nests (in this case, with Linepithema oblongum).

Termas de Reyes, Jujuy, Argentina
Allomerus octoarticulatus workers with brood.

Jatun Sacha reserve, Napo, Ecuador
Aphaenogaster fulva workers tending to brood.

Clinton Lake State Recreation Area, Illinois, USA
Polyrhachis (Cyrtomyrma) robsoni worker with brood of different ages.

Cape Tribulation, Queensland, Australia
Polyrhachis (Cyrtomyrma) robsoni worker with brood of different ages.

Cape Tribulation, Queensland, Australia
Polyrhachis (Cyrtomyrma) robsoni worker with brood of different ages.

Cape Tribulation, Queensland, Australia
See photo in original gallery.
all images and text © Alex Wild 2001-2013